2011

WASHINGTON -- U.S. economic growth in the third quarter was revised sharply higher, to a healthy annual rate of 4.1%, thanks to stronger consumer spending and nonresidential investment than previously thought. Commerce Department officials had previously estimated that the nation's gross domestic product, or total value of goods and services produced, expanded 3.6% in the July-to-September period. The revised data released Friday indicate that last quarter's GDP growth rate was the fastest since the end of 2011, and importantly, that there was broader economic momentum heading into the final months of the year than believed.

After more than two and a half years on the run, a Pomona man is expected to face charges for a 2011 fatal drive-by shooting, Los Angeles County prosecutors said. Ruben Vargas, 37, is scheduled to be arraigned Jan. 14 on a murder charge in the 2011 shooting death of Lina Romero , 31. Pomona police say Vargas and 27-year-old Andrew Alvarez drove by a home in the 600 block of Illinois Street and unleashed a barrage of gunfire into a home, hitting Romero, who was inside. She died about a month later in the hospital, turning the case into a homicide.

USC President C. L. Max Nikias was the 13th-highest compensated private university president in 2011, making nearly $1.4 million in total pay, while former UC President Mark G. Yudof was the eighth-best paid public education executive, according to an annual survey released Sunday. University of Chicago President Robert J. Zimmer made nearly $3.3 million, ranking him first among private college or university chiefs, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, while ex-Penn State University President Graham Spanier was the highest paid public president, making $2.9 million during the 2012 fiscal year.

America's cars, trucks and SUVs took a record step in 2012 toward a cleaner future, with the average fuel economy for new vehicles hitting an all-time high of 23.6 miles per gallon, according to a new report released by the EPA. That average is a 1.2 mpg increase over 2011 vehicles, a jump that is the second highest in the last 30 years. Fuel economy has increased in seven of the last eight years, the agency announced in Thursday's report. "Today's new vehicles are cleaner and more fuel efficient than ever, saving American families money at the gas pump and helping to keep the air that we breathe cleaner," Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, said in a statement.

The trial of two Fullerton police officers accused of killing a mentally ill homeless man began in dramatic fashion Monday with the Orange County district attorney taking the rare step of arguing the case personally, at one point holding a wooden baton to recreate the deadly confrontation. "The conduct of these two officers who are on trial here went far beyond what is acceptable in a free society," Tony Rackauckas told jurors in a packed Santa Ana courtroom. The death of Kelly Thomas in 2011 generated national attention, marking a rare instance in which police officers are being criminally charged for an on-duty fatality.

Almost as soon as the baton blows began raining down on Kelly Thomas, the verdict from witnesses in a bustling Fullerton bus depot was clear. "They're freaking ruthless," said one man in video captured by a bystander. "That's enough," a woman called out. Now, two years later, an Orange County jury will be asked to render its own verdict on the incident that July night when a routine encounter between police and Thomas escalated into violence that left the mentally ill homeless man in a coma and dead five days later.

At first glance, the Facebook photo doesn't look like a USC alumni gathering: No cardinal and gold in sight, not a single Tommy Trojan to be found. But, on closer inspection, it's apparent that half of the smiling men are flashing the Trojan "victory" sign. "At USC, you quickly develop a sense of pride being a top university," said Bahjat Zayed, the past president of the 120-member USC Alumni Club of Arabia, one of the university's fastest growing graduate groups. The club is one sign of the rapid rise of Saudi Arabians studying in the United States.

This is an elegant Napa Valley Chardonnay from Chateau Montelena, very much still in the style that won the famous Paris Tasting of 1976 and launched California Chardonnay onto the world wine scene. Silky on the palate, the 2011 has aromas of pear, citrus and honeysuckle. A bright acidity and a discrete touch of oak give the ripe fruit flavors a lift. A wine to savor. This would be a great bottle to take to a holiday dinner with people who would appreciate its finesse. It shows best with shellfish or fish in sauce -- coquilles St. Jacques, lobster with drawn butter or Dungeness crab, but also a simple roast chicken.

In the 2 1/2 years since selling California Pizza Kitchen, the popular chain he helped found in 1985, Richard L. Rosenfield has been golfing, fishing, hunting, pursuing hobbies and otherwise staying off the restaurant industry's radar. Not so much for Larry S. Flax, Rosenfield's best friend and business partner of four decades, who's been jetting around the world hunting for a new food project. Turns out he didn't have to go far for ideas. Sometime in the second half of 2014, Flax and Rosenfield said, they plan to revisit pizza by launching a line of fast-casual pie joints.

The co-founder of frozen yogurt chain Pinkberry was convicted Friday of beating a homeless man with a tire iron while the victim panhandled on an East Hollywood street. Young Lee, 49, also was declared a "significant threat to the community" because he had threatened a witness at his trial, and Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Henry Hall ordered him jailed without bail until his sentencing in January. During the trial, the prosecutor reminded the jury of the threat to the witness, David Lee. "Do you remember the moment when David Lee stood on the witness stand and told us he'd been threatened?"